R Sridhar, the former fielding coach of Team India, recalled the incident in which Ravi Shastri lost his calm over MS Dhoni’s poor performance in an ODI match against England in 2018. The target was eventually missed by India by 86 runs, and the former head coach was not happy with the wicketkeeper’s strategy.
The incident occurred at Lord’s during the second one-day international of the three-match away series against England. England scored 322-7 thanks to Joe Root’s century, giving the visitors a challenging task.
India had a decent start to the chase and stumbled a little after the powerplay, but they were still in the game with a 140-3 lead at the midpoint.
The Men in Blue, though, were restricted to 191-7 with 10 overs left after a string of wickets. There was still some hope because Dhoni was still at the crease. Despite the asking rate at that time being greater than 13, only 20 runs came off the next five or six overs due to Dhoni’s lack of proactive efforts to score runs. After facing 59 deliveries, the World Cup-winning captain was eventually dismissed for 37.
In his recently released book, “Coaching Beyond: My Days with the Indian Cricket Team,” Sridhar recalled how Shastri was furious about the way Dhoni approached the run chase.
“Ravi, meanwhile, was seething. He was furious not because we lost by 86 runs, but how we lost the game, how we went down without putting up a fight. We didn’t go for the target, we didn’t go down throwing a punch, we just went down tamely. The head coach wasn’t going to let that one sail harmlessly by.”
Sridhar further wrote:
“The decider was in Headingley, and we had a team meeting the previous day. The entire squad was in attendance, including all members of the support staff, and I knew Ravi was going to make a strong point.
“He was at his loudest and fiercest as he said, ‘No matter who you may be, there should not be another occasion when we lose a match not trying to win it. It will not happen under my watch. And if anyone does it, that will be the last bloody game of cricket they will play under my watch. You can lose a cricket game, no shame in that, but you will not lose like this.”
MS Dhoni is considered one of the most legendary personalities. It is difficult to imagine such a gentleman, especially in his advanced years of career, being the center of team discussion. R Sridhar recalls that he did it with dignity though. The former trainer wrote:
“MS was sitting right there in the front, and while Ravi’s words were meant for the team, his eyes were trained on MS To the former skipper’s great credit, he didn’t flinch, he never broke eye contact with Ravi.”
